A FATHER murdered his four children today (Thursday, March 27) before taking his own life.

The man and the young children were found dead in a fume-filled car.

He had earlier phoned his wife - their mother - to tell her he was going to harm the children.

They were all boys, aged three, five, six and seven.

The mother, who lives in Cheshire, contacted police who launched a hunt across the north west in a bid to stop the tragedy.

She received the call from her husband at 12.20am today.

But after an hour-long search, involving scores of police patrols, dogs and a helicopter, the four children and their father were found in the car in a quiet country lane.

The children were taken to hospital and pronounced dead at 2am. The father was confirmed dead at the scene.

Police initially thought all the casualties had suffered carbon monoxide poisoning but later said further investigation would be needed.

The mother, who has been separated from her husband for several months, was informed of the discovery immediately.

She was being cared for by police and relatives. She was said to be devastated.

The man had picked the children up from their home in Winsford, Cheshire, yesterday in an arranged access visit. But fears were sparked by his disturbing midnight phone-call.

After the search was mounted, police began trying to trace the mobile phone the man had used. They narrowed down the hunt to North Wales, where the bodies were found in a car the Horseshoe Pass in Llangollen.

They were being kept at the Wrexham Maelor Hospital today, while a pathologist was being called in to carry out a post mortem.

Police said all were initially thought to have died from inhaling deadly fumes from the car's exhaust pipe.

They are now investigating whether there could have been another cause of death.

A Cheshire police spokeswoman said today: "We received a 999 call from a woman in Winsford who said her husband, from whom she is separated, was threatening to harm their four children.

"We deployed all available resources in an effort to trace them. We also took steps to trace the mobile phone."

A North Wales police spokeswoman said officers from her force made the discovery and said a full investigation has been launched.